SANTA CRUZ – A Santa Cruz Beach Flats couple, their 3-year-old son and two parents — all U.S. citizens — are recovering after four men armed with assault rifles carjacked and robbed the family traveling in southwest Mexico this month.

The family was about 15 miles beyond a toll road in Las Cañas in the state of Michoacán about 11:30 a.m. Feb. 7, when a burgundy Honda CRV stopped their 2006 Honda Ridgeline towing a 1982 Jeep Willy, ordered them to get out and leave all cell phones, wallets and money behind, Lalita Kirkman told the Sentinel on Friday.

Now, the family is home in Santa Cruz, still trying to report the crime officially after having to pay hundreds of borrowed dollars for the replacement passports they needed to fly home.

The State Department in January issued its highest level of travel advisories — “do not travel” — in five Mexican states, including Michoacán, amid the widespread threat of violent crime. Homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery are prevalent in those areas, according to the travel advisory.

Kirkman, who was born in Mexico, said she and her husband, Shug Kirkman, own property in the southwest Mexico beach village of Troncones, Guerrero. The State Department also advises “do not travel” to Guerrero. The Kirkmans travel to Mexico each year, but she said she does not want to return any time soon.

“We were hijacked by four men with masks and AK-47s,” Kirkman said. “They jumped in the car, leaving us in the middle of the highway with our son shoeless.”

The family hitched a ride back to the toll plaza and started a series of failed efforts to try to report the crime, Kirkman said. The family was unable to get a case number from federal police in Mexico, she said.

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Kirkman and her family found help getting back to her parents’ winter home north in the state of Michoacán before heading farther north to the city of Guadalajara to the U.S. Consulate General in that city to acquire emergency passports. After a long wait and being informed that most people needed an appointment, the family was told the passports would be almost $400, Kirkman said.

“All we had was a credit card my father gave us and they would not accept it because he wasn’t present,” Kirkman said. They demanded to consult with a supervisor but the requirement did not change, she said.

“We had already gone a full 24 hours with no sleep and we finally felt like we were in a safe space,” Kirkman said. “We got everything stolen. They just didn’t understand that.”

The family went to a nearby bank and called their temple, Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math Seva Ashram, in Soquel to see if anyone could help, Kirkman said. A church member in Mexico gave them the money and they were able to return to the U.S.

“As American citizens, we felt lost and stranded in a foreign country without help from the Mexican or American embassy,” Kirkman said.

A spokesman for the Bureau of Consular Affairs at the State Department said safety is utmost concern for U.S. citizens overseas.

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He was unable to discuss a case, which is protected by privacy laws, but said crime victims overseas can receive help finding medical care and information about how to file a local police report. The bureau also can help to contact family and friends for the U.S. citizen.

“Normally, family and friends can transfer funds through commercial services to assist the individuals with replacing documents and arranging transportation home,” he said. “In extraordinary cases, the department can provide a repatriation loan to the U.S. citizens involved.”